Marauders Take Two
by Gemini Star01
Summary: You know what I think, guys? I think it's about time the Marauders made a comeback.' Who'd have thought, after all these years, the new Hogwarts dream team would be Potter, Lupin, Malfoy and Longbottom?
1. The Meetings

I've held onto this for a while, but since I'm having some sort of fun with it I decided to post it and see if it was worth continuing in anyone else's eyes. And I'm weird. Very weird. And I love it. But I blame this, my first non-anime related fic, on Allison, whose screen name I do not know. Because it is your fault, sempai. You're the one who got me into this stuff. I'm not yet corrupted enough to write HP slash fics, though I'm sure you're working steadily on corrupting my mind to that level as well.

_**Disclaimer: **I don't own anything to do with the original Harry Potter. However, Rena, Lori, Ted, Kert, Sirius (James), and all other new characters belong to me. So there._

**Marauders - Take Two**

**Chapter 1: The Meetings**

Loriana Narcissa Malfoy flopped back on the big, soft bed, not evening bothering to waste energy on closing the curtains. She picked up one of the spare pillows and covered her face, sighing into the fabric. It didn't matter. Nothing mattered. Her life was over.

No, she wasn't overreacting. It was definitely over.

Of all the four houses she could have been sorted into, she'd been placed in Gryffindor. _Gryffindor_.

She wasn't supposed to be in Gryffindor. She was supposed to be a Slytherin, like her mother and…and her father.

Loriana had never known her father. Draco Malfoy was an infamous name, a strong pure-blood leader, a talented Legilimens, and an up-and-coming Death Eater, but just before the end of the battle there were rumors of a change of heart. According to some, he had turned against the Death Eaters, fighting to bring about the peace they lived now. Some said he suffered his early death at hands of those he had turned against, passing away soon after the birth of his only child.

One of the last things he did was name her, for his grandmother and mother, respectively. Loriana Narcissa.

Her mother, of course, she denied every word. She holds up that he was a talented Dark Wizard to his death, when he fell in the noble defense of his soon-after-fallen Master. As though it was something to be proud was. Maybe it was. After all, Loriana was his heir. She was the one meant to bring honor back to the Noble and Ancient house of Malfoy.

Of course, the chances of that were shot. She'd been put in Gryffindor.

Mother was going to be _furious_. Loriana could hear her even now, shrill and savage with rage and fury. "_GRYFFINDOR? The blasted hat put YOU in Gryffindor? No daughter of mine will be in Gryffindor! You belong in SLYTHERIN, like me and your father! The heir of the Malfoy line deserves more than this!"_

It would be hopeless, she knew. She'd already spoken to the Headmistress, and Professor McGonagall had been very firm: changing houses after the sorting was not permitted, no matter the situation. If Miss Loriana Malfoy was placed in Gryffindor, then Miss Loriana Malfoy would stay in Gryffindor, no buts about it.

Another, unfamiliar voice suddenly interrupted her stupor. "I don't _care_, Sirius! I don't need your help, so stop following me!"

Loriana opened her eyes. The voice was female, definitely female, and just outside her door. One of her new roommates, perhaps? Whoever it was, they hadn't entered yet, and, rather, were standing on the landing outside the closed door and shouting down the curved stairs that lead to the red-decked common room.

Another voice answered her now, a male one, echoing from below. "Rena, it's your first time around here! Hogwarts can be dangerous!"

"You don't think I _know_ that? Mum and Dad gave me a dozen lectures before I left home, I don't need another one from you! I don't care if you _are_ my older brother, stay out of this!"

"Now Rena, hold on…WOAH!"

"Ha! Serves you right!" A light 'nyah' followed the last line, as though she was sticking her tongue out at him. "Later, 'Serious James'."

The door opened suddenly, then closed again, followed by the sound of an annoyed sigh. Loriana lifted her head slowly, pulling the spare pillow down to get a good look at the first of her four new roomies.

The girl leaning against the door was small and slight, a bit shorter than herself, if Loriana had to guess lying down. Her hair was cropped much shorter than Loriana's own white-blonde, shaggily trimmed to the length of her shoulders rather than all the way down her waist. It was much messier than Lori's, too, whose own hair was perfectly straight more often than not, and seamed a dark red. Or rather, a sort of black with heavy red undertones, the result of which was actually rather pretty. Her eyes were bright green, slightly hidden by thin-framed red glasses, which actually nicely accented the light dusting of freckles on her cheeks.

"Jerk. Of all the brothers in the world, why'd I have to get stuck with him?" She muttered harshly, folding her arms over her chest and walking further into the dorm room. She looked up and noticed Loriana, still spread out on the bed. "Oh…Hi. Sorry, didn't mean to wake you."

"I wasn't sleeping." Loriana muttered sourly.

"Well, I guess that's good." The girl rubbed her head awkwardly, wandering to a bed right next to Loriana's. "I guess this one's mine, huh? My stuff's all here…"

"That's generally how it works." Loriana muttered, rolling over.

"So that makes us roommates, right?" The other girl's voice was suddenly very close. Loriana rolled over and nearly jumped a foot when she realized the other was now leaning over her bed, smiling down at her broadly. "It's nice to meet you. The name's Serena, but most people call me Rena. What's your name?"

The blonde gaped at her a moment, then stuttered. "U-Uh…Lori…ana…"

Serena…Rena…smiled broadly, green eyes squinting up cutely behind her glasses as she did. "Well, it's nice to meet you, Lori!" She laughed brightly, bouncing over to stretch out on her own bed. "What'd ya think of dinner? Wasn't that grand?"

"Uh…Yeah." Loriana blinked. Nobody had called her 'Lori' before. "I guess it was…pretty good."

"Pretty good? Try awesome!" Rena stretched up, yawning widely. "And all those gorgeous stars, charmed right over the ceiling…like eating outside or something. I'll bet the sunset's even better. Imagine, eating under the sky and stars every night!"

She sighed, spreading her arms and legs and staring lazily up into the red velvet curtains around and above her. A huge smile was plastered on her face, one that Loriana could see easily as she supported herself with one arm. For a moment, Rena just smiled, then her pretty green eyes closed slowly in content.

"Dad was right. One night and I already love this place."

Loriana blinked at her a moment. There was something…different about this girl. Something interesting and strange, yet familiar. It made Loriana feel good, somehow. It was something she'd rarely felt, and never expected to now that she'd been so disgraced. And it was…nice.

"…What's your name?"

Rena opened one eye, turning her head. "Pardon?"

"Your last name. You never told me." Loriana sat up, swinging her legs over the edge of the bed and crossing them silently at the ankles. "Mine's Malfoy. Loriana Malfoy."

The other girl blinked at her a moment, then smiled at sat up as well. She turned and smiled at Loriana kindly.

"Serena Potter."

**( - ) ( - ) ( - )**

Chalk up another thing Papa was right about: History of Magic was definitely boring.

Professor Binns was dead boring, in more than one way. The ghost-teacher was easily the most dull person ever, even if most of the class was ignoring him. Each of the first-year Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs in the room were cursing their luck at having to get _him _for their very first class at Hogwarts.

Rena sighed, leaning her head in one hand and flipping idly through her copy of _A History of Magic_ by Bathilda Bagshot. It was kinda old, which wasn't surprising, as it had belonged to her father. The shop had been completely sold out when she'd gone to get her copy, so for the first year at least she had to make due with her father's old one. Not that it really mattered, seeing as she was so bored she could hardly understand a word Binns was saying anyway. It was a bit more fun looking at her father's various doodles and notes to his friends written in the margins of the huge tome.

She glanced out of the corner of her eyes at Lori. The other girl had her head in her hands, elbow resting on the table, though her arms were nearly hidden by the volumes of long, silky white blonde hair that fell over them. Her crystal blue eyes were only half-open and struggling to remain so, fluttering every few seconds.

Most of the class were in similar varying states of lethargy and dazed dreaming. A few had fallen asleep. A Hufflepuff boy in the corner had a sketchbook and was working diligently on a gorgeous picture of an owl in flight. Heather and Jennifer Lovett, twin girls who also slept in Lori and Rena's dorm, were playing cards under the table at the very back. Rena could see them switching hands and exchanging the Bernie Bott's Every Flavor Beans they were using as chips.

An unexpected motion suddenly caught her eye. She lifted her head slightly, noticing a hand at the next table reach slowly into a pocket of a red-lined robe and pull out a wand. Adjusting her glasses and moving her eyes a bit further up revealed the owner to be a tall, thin boy with semi-long, mousy brown hair, a powder-blue streak running through its center and falling loosely over amber-brown eyes. He had a sort of strange, though attractive, face, one that was both vaguely heart-shaped and vaguely stretched at the same time.

As Rena watched, the boy slowly aimed his wand at the droning ghost pacing the room in front of them, blabbering on about something to the extent of Maleficent the Malicious. The Gryffindor smiled wirily to himself and whispered something under his breath.

A slight tremor of greenish light shot out from the wand tip, snaking along the curved stone floor and up the teacher's ghostly hem. The light snaked unnoticed up the only vaguely corporal form before it sparked into what would have been his hair, had he still been alive. What had been white was suddenly glowing sea foam green, like a badly-lit florescent light.

Several people took notice, sitting up suddenly, and a few (including Rena) giggled. Professor Binns raised a curious eyebrow, but went on talking as if nothing had happened. And indeed, he couldn't have realized that something had happened, as what little hair he had left was positioned firmly in the back of his head.

Lori cast Rena a curious glance, and the red-haired girl let a grin spread over her face. She glanced at the boy out of the corner of her eye. There was a smaller, round-faced boy with goldish-brown hair next to him seamed torn between laughing and going back to whatever day dream he'd been having, shaking his head at the other Gryffindor thoughtfully.

Rena caught the first boy's eye and grinned slightly wider, nodding in congratulations at a wonderful trick. The boy winked at her, tossing his blue-streaked hair back coolly.

Most interesting indeed…

**( - ) ( - ) ( - )**

"Nice trick you pulled back there."

The duo-haired boy and his companion turned around, blinking at the two girls who approached them. Actually, it was a bit more like Rena approached them, a wide grin on her face, as Lori tagged along behind her more humbly.

"Oh…Well, thank you." The boy with the blue streak grinned broadly. "I'm pretty good at charms like that, you know. Doesn't work as good on a ghost, of course, but we had to liven it up somehow."

"Yes, indeed." Rena smiled, reaching in to pull out her own wand. "I believe this was the effect you were going for, right? _Vexillum variare_."

She tapped the boy's head once with her wand, and instantly his entire scalp had become a bright neon green. Lori giggle behind her hand, and the rounded boy beside him couldn't help but laughing either, his blue eyes scrunching up as he did.

"See? Much better." Rena laughed, putting her wand away. "It's a good color for you."

The boy turned his eyes up slightly, pulling at one of his bangs as though making sure it was really his own hair that had become green. Then he laughed, a wide grin spreading over his face. "Yeah, not bad." He chuckled, putting his hands on his hips. "But something tells me that Professor Anias won't be too pleased with the look in Transfiguration, huh?"

He closed his eyes and scrunched his face up as though trying to remember something important. Seconds later, his brown hair was suddenly back, though now the streak was a softer shade of forest green.

Lori, Rena and the rounded boy jumped a foot. "You…You're a Morphmagus!" Lori exclaimed.

"You didn't tell me that!" The rounded boy's slightly airy voice sounded a bit accusing, but more surprised than anything else.

The other boy just laughed heartily. "It's so much more fun for people to find out this way." He chuckled, pulling out a from his pocket as though checking to see how it looked. "It's always a hoot to see how people react when they see it."

"Tricky." Rena smiled, turning her head to one side. "Not bad. My kinda guy."

She held out her hand pointedly. "Name's Serena. Serena Potter. And this is Lori."

"Ted Lupin." The boy grinned, shaking her hand. "And this guy's Kert Longbottom. We met on the train."

"Charmed." Rena piped, and giggled a little at her own lame joke.

Kert grinned at Lori and waved almost cheekily. Lori gave him a shy smile, though her mind was working on something else. "I remember Lupin from the sorting." She said slowly. "But the name wasn't Ted. It was…"

"Nothing to worry about!" Ted insisted, coughing and turning on his heels. "We better get to class, I hear there's a trick step that might make it a problem…"

"What'sa matter?" Rena grinned, hurrying up to lean over the retreating boy's shoulder as the other two caught up. "Did they screw up on the registers or something?"

"No…" Ted muttered under his breath. "I just…don't like my first name."

"Is it really that bad?" Lori asked, blinking.

"It's bad."

"It's Romulus."

"Kert!"

The round-faced boy just grinned at him brightly, his oddly-clear blue eyes glistening. "Well, somebody had to say it."

Ted pouted slightly. "Thanks a lot, buddy."

"Any time." Kert sighed, and went back to staring somewhat dreamily into space.

Rena grinned brightly, and Lori allowed herself a slight smile. "Well then, what were saying about us being late?" Rena's sudden push of energy changed into a sort of hop-skip-and-jump as she pulled ahead of the boys. "Come on, Lori, let's go!"

"Rena, wait up!" Lori called, and hurried after her.

Rena stopped, partially so her friend could catch up, and partially so she could grin back at the two lagging behind. "Coming, boys? 'Cause if not, we're gonna leave you!"

"As if!" Ted shouted, and he and Kert hurried after the girls, all four of them grinning broadly.

_**TBC…**_

Just because I like showing what I've worked on, I've given all the characters full names, including their middle ones. Lori's is, of course, Loriana Narcissa Malfoy. Rena's is Serena Lily Potter. Ted is Romulus Ted Lupin, while Kert's full name is Kert Frank Longbottom.

I do hope you enjoyed this first chapter. Please leave a review so I can know how I'm doing, please and thank you.


	2. The Parchment

(blink blink) Jennifer Lovett equals 'Jennifer Love Hewet'? Woo boy! Wait until I tell Jen-Jen about THAT one! (Jennifer and Heather Lovett are twin girls I know in real life. They're MY classmates)

_**Disclaimer: **I don't own anything to do with the original Harry Potter. However, Rena, Lori, Ted, Kert, Sirius (James), Corey, Vail, Abby, and all other new characters belong to me. So there._

**Marauders - Take Two**

**Chapter 2: The Parchment**

Sirius James Potter was not in the best of moods, but, in his opinion, that was only to be understood.

After all, here he was, a promising Gryffindor third-year, best Chaser on the Quidditch team, top of his class in Defense Against the Dark Arts, and the eldest son of one of the greatest heroes in recent wizarding history…and he _still_ couldn't manage to keep tabs on his own younger sister.

Currently, he was sulking in one of the large, over-stuffed armchair of the Gryffindor common room. His smooth black hair fell into the bright green eyes he shared with his sister, the ones they'd inherited from their father, and he from their grandmother. His eyes, however, were not as bad as his father's or sister's, and thus he did not need glasses. His otherwise-attractive face was pulled into a definite sulk, glaring at the crackling fire in a very bad mood.

"Mate, you've gotta lighten up." Came a voice from his left, accompanied by the sagging of a body into a chair. "It's not all that bad…"

Sirius turned his eyes slightly to find Corey Weasley, his cousin and best friend, sitting cross-legged in the chair beside him. Corey was a tall, thin boy with curly, bushy red hair, a color he'd inherited from his father, who was Sirius's uncle on his mother's side. Corey had brown eyes that always seamed to hold a curious gaze to them, and a light dusting of freckles on his cheeks. His clothes were just a little more worn than the average person, but that was normal: he had three younger siblings at home, and a fourth was on the way.

"'Not all that bad'?" Sirius rolled his eyes. "You can't tell me that, Corey. You _know_ it's bad."

Corey laughed a bit awkwardly. "But Rena seams to be getting along pretty well. She's awfully independent, you know. Like Aunt Ginny."

"I don't mind her being independent." Sirius muttered, though from the look on his face that was just a bluff. "What I _mind_ is her hanging around with that _Malfoy_ girl!"

Corey shut up. He had to admit, he wasn't too fond of the idea himself. Of all the first-year girls his younger cousin could have chosen to become friends with, why on earth had she picked the daughter of Draco Malfoy? She had to know her father's rivalry with him, how much they hated each other, not to mention the man's reputation as a Death Eater. And yet, Serena and Malfoy had been all but inseparable in the past week, and they weren't looking to change that pattern anytime soon.

"Well…at least Lupin and Longbottom are along with them."

Sirius's scowl lightened only a little. "Lupin and Longbottom are _boys_. They're not in the same dorm with her, bothering her all night."

Corey sighed, closing his brown eyes almost painfully. "You just never give up, do you, Siri?"

Sirius threw a couch pillow at him.

Right about that moment, the portrait swung open, ushering in a pair of feminine giggles and one masculine guffaw. Rena and 'that Malfoy girl' scrambled in through the hole, the blonde trying to cover her mouth daintily with her hand, followed closely by Lupin, who wasn't even trying to hide his laughter. He and Rena paused a moment to help Longbottom, who had apparently glued his hands together on accident, up into the common room.

"It's not _funny_ you guys!" Longbottom exclaimed, his normally airy voice rising into the shriek it changed to when he was upset. He pulled at his fingers, but they remained firmly laced together around his wand. "I can't get them loose!"

"Kert, relax." Rena giggled. One would notice that she carried a rather ink-stained copy of _The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 1_ in her hands. "We'll just get one of our copies and fix you right up."

"We could've fixed it earlier if you'd been more careful with that ink." Lupin added with a bright, amber-eyed grin.

Longbottom rolled his eyes at him. "It's not my fault! It's hard to dodge the bottles when you're stuck like this."

Rena and Malfoy cracked up again, giggling wildly. Corey laughed as well, but Sirius just scowled and pushed out of the chair in a huff, storming over to the group. "A-hem."

Malfoy, who noticed him first off, suddenly stopped laughing and shrank back just a little, blinking up at the third-year nervously. To say he hadn't been exactly friendly to her the past few weeks would be the understatement of the century, and it gave Sirius a sort of confidence to know that Draco Malfoy's offspring was afraid of him.

Rena, however, simply spun around, and faced her brother with an even expression. "Can I help you, Serious James?"

Lupin and Longbottom suddenly stopped, hovering nearby with the same nervous expression as Malfoy and Corey. The two siblings stared at each other with almost-identical, piercing green glares, so severe that their audience could almost see the lightening bolts flashing between them.

"I told you how I've felt about this situation, Serena." Sirius hissed softly.

"I know that, Sirius James." Rena said calmly, without missing a beat. "I've taken it in to careful consideration and drawn a conclusion of my own."

Sirius bristled slightly. "Which is?"

"Which is this." Rena reached back and grabbed the blonde girl's thin, pale hand. She stuck her tongue out at her brother. "Lori's my friend, and it's gonna stay that way. I don't care what you think about it."

Sirius growled slightly. "Rena…"

"Sorry, Sirius, but there are more pressing matters to attend to." Rena spun around, suddenly smiling again. "Come on, Kert, let's get you fixed up!"

With that, she grabbed Longbottom's wrist in her free hand and dragged him and Malfoy up towards the first-year boy's dorm, Lupin scrambling behind them quickly. Siri glared after them, his face turning a bit red as Rena stuck her tongue out at him just before disappearing.

Several snickers filled the common room. Sirius glared at the lot of them, his green eyes reflected with just the right amount of fire to send them all scurrying back to their original tasks.

Corey glanced at his cousin awkwardly, rubbing the back of his head. "Well…at least it's nice weather for flying."

"Shut up." Sirius muttered, and snatched up his broom to storm out of the common room and down to the Qudditch pitch in a huff.

**( - ) ( - ) ( - )**

Lori hummed to herself softly, an old wizard lullaby stuck in her head as she clutched a library book close to her chest. The Saturday morning sun glistened in through the pretty pale green-tinted windows of the third floor, making the whole stone hall glow happily.

She was so busy with her own daydreams that she didn't realize someone was in front of her until she ran into them. She stumbled back, nearly dropping her book, and stuttered. "I-I'm sorry…"

A sharp gasp was suddenly drawn into her lips when she registered the person's appearance. Looking down at her was a tall, thin boy with short, straight brown hair and rather dark eyes, glaring down at her with his hand stuffed deep in his green-trimmed Slytherin robes. Just beside him was a slightly-shorter dark-skinned girl with brown eyes and long ringlets of jade black hair, also dressed in the green snake-garb.

Lori's breath caught in her throat in a burst of recognition. The boy looked her over a moment, sneering at her red uniform, then smirked. "Well well well. If it isn't little Miss Pride of the Malfoy Line."

"Or should we say _ex-_pride?" The girl giggled. "In an outfit like that! All that red!"

Lori gulped slightly. "V-Vail…A-Abby…"

"Don't address us by our first names, Gryffin_dork_." Vail sniffed. He gave his hand a flick and knocked the book out of Loriana's arms, sending it crashing to the ground.

Lori scrambled to pick it up, but 'Abby' immediately moved her foot to step on it firmly. "I wonder how your mother's going to deal with this one, Loriana dear?" She smirked haughtily. "You know, once she's found out about this little mishap, she _might_ even take you out of school…"

"Hey, Lori!"

The two Slytherins stopped and looked up. Lori pried her book loose and turned to find a familiar redhead running up the hall, a broad smile on her face. "Rena…"

"I've been looking all over for you!" Rena slid to a stop and wasted no time in pulling Lori up by the arm. She didn't even bat an eye at the two green-robed classmates staring at her. "Come on! Ted's got this amazing idea, it's going to be so cool…"

"A-hem."

Rena paused and blinked up at Vail. "Yes?"

The boy narrowed his eyes at her, then at Lori. "Are you going to stand there all day, or are you going to introduce us to your…friend…Loriana?"

"Um…yes…" Lori scrambled to get a hold of her book, stuttering slightly. "Th-This is Rena…Serena…P-Potter. My housemate." She gulped at the raised eyebrows and haughty smirks of the two Slytherins. "R-Rena, this is Vail Nott and A-Abimala Zambini."

"Nice to meet'cha." Serena grinned brightly, her pretty green eyes wrinkling up cutely.

"Charmed." Zambini rolled her eyes, but Nott smiled and offered Rena his hand. The red-haired girl shook it, the same almost ditzy smile firmly on her lips.

"So, you're Potter, eh?" The boy's voice held a tinge of disdain. "I've heard of you. Of course, who couldn't? The great _Harry_ Potter's daughter…quite an honor."

Rena shook her head. "Oh…Papa's not all _that_ great. He's a normal guy, and Mum keeps him under the reigns half the time. Nothing ever happens around our house."

"Is that so?" Nott's hand slipped into his pocket, fingering his wand contemplatively. "You know, my father was in school with yours. Classmates, as I've heard. Maybe we should get together some time and see if we have anything in common…"

"Vail!" Zambini exclaimed, an angry red rising to visibility on her dark cheeks.

"Thanks…" Rena released Nott's hand quickly and spun on her heels, seizing Lori by the arm. "But no thanks. I wouldn't wanna be caught dead with a creep like you."

Nott recoiled slightly, his eyes narrowing. "So, already caught up in the old Gryffindor-Slytherin rivalry, are you?"

"Nope." Rena stuck her tongue out at him. "I don't care what color you wear, but I wouldn't forgive _anyone_ who picks on _my_ friends."

Zambini hissed sharply at their retreating backs. "Don't." She muttered, grabbing Nott's wrist before he could pull out his wand. "You'll just get in trouble."

"Cocky little brat." Nott growled, relaxing his fingers from their grip so the girl would let go of his wrist. "With her around, that brat Malfoy will start getting the wrong kind of ideas."

"Oh, don't worry about that." Zambini smirked. "Just wait until Madam Malfoy gets done with them, you'll see…"

**( - ) ( - ) ( - )**

Rena yawned and sucked idly on the end of her quill, wishing idly it was made of sugar, not feather. She pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose and frowned down at the parchment in her lap, sitting somewhat haphazardly on thick red covers. A bottle of ink sat next to her, curtains drawn tight to keep her lamplight from bothering her friends.

"Dammit…three inches short." She muttered in annoyance, putting down her ruler and quill with a sigh. She cursed herself silently for leaving her History of Magic homework until the last minute. How hard could twelve inches on the Great Goblin Gaggle of 1476 really be?

Apparently, a lot harder than she thought.

Rena sighed again, leaning over to her old, worn copy of _A Complete History of Magic. _It was midnight, at least, and the others were all already in bed. Lori had finished her essay days ago and offered it to Rena when she saw her struggling, but Rena's well-taught pride wouldn't let her copy.

The pages of her textbook rustled as she searched for a bit more information. Her glasses slipped down again, but she was too tired to push them up. She yawned sleepily, her eyes closing slightly…

Something slight heavy suddenly fell out of her book and into her lap with a light _thump_, startling her awake. "Huh? Wha?"

She blinked at it. It was a pad of parchment…nothing special, just a normal pad of parchment…with her dad's seal on it? Rena blinked and took a closer look at the small seal of green wax sealing the page shut. Yup, that was her father's seal all right, a riderless broom chasing after a Golden Snitch that was being hit by lightening. It was the seal her mother had designed herself and given her father as a wedding present, and he'd been using it to seal letters and documents ever since.

So something important, then, otherwise Father would not have wasted the wax. But then why had it been inside the textbook…?

"I suppose it can't hurt to look." The girl shrugged, grinning to herself. She hooked her thin fingers under the wax and broke the seal. Slowly, quietly, she unfolded the page to reveal…

An absolutely normal folded sheet of parchment.

Nothing written, no pictures, no doodles, no long-lost letters of love, not even a forgotten smudge of ink or dirt. Rena turned it over in her hands, blinking at it, unfolding it, refolding it, and not finding a thing.

Rena, quite simply, couldn't believe it. "What in the name of…?" She groaned, folding it back up to look at the front of the page. "Come on, Papa, you're not like that. Only crazy old men do stuff like that…"

She sighed, setting the parchment down. She leaned on her elbows and idly tapped it with her wand, just to see if it would spark or move or something. "What's so great about this thing, anyway?"

The paper rustled slightly. Rena raised her head and, to her surprise, found ink lines appearing on the page from the point where her wand had touched. As she watched, they swirled and met and merged together until lines of writing began to appear across the brown page. She leaned forward even more eagerly to read…

_Mr. Moony would like to remind you, young lady, that it is unwise for one to prod at random objects with one's wand, and that only a complete moron would assume that a piece of parchment was anything remarkable in the least._

Rena's mouth fell open. Northing remarkable? The damn page just insulted her! Oh, but that wasn't all, for another like was forming.

_Mr. Wormtail expresses his annoyance at being spoken to without being introduced right off. Girls can be so annoyingly pushy sometimes, can't they?_

"You spoke to me first, you stupid page!" Rena hissed in annoyance, scowling.

_Mr. Padfoot would like to point out that the girl's wand is annoyingly dirty, and she should really clean it before the snot-nosed little brat goes pushing it into anything else._

Rena's red hair bristled slightly as her body stiffened in annoyance. She resisted the urge to tear the annoying page to shreds and burn it in the fireplace as the last line scrawled across.

_Mr. Prongs bids the Ickle Firstie a good night, and laughs at the pathetic attempt at a scrounged-up essay gleaming in the corner. A drunken monkey could do better._

The ink swirled, shifted and vanished, leaving a blank parchment once again. Rena sat there a moment, blinking at it, then snapped the packet closed.

"Bloody hell." She muttered, closing the page in the textbook and dropping it onto the ground. She reached up and tapped at the lamp with her wand. "My father really _has_ lost it. _Nox_."

_**TBC…**_

Yes, of course Sirius (only Corey and Rena call him Siri, the later only when she's in loving-little-sister mode) is named for his grandfather as well as his…er…would you call it a grand-godfather? Never mind. I shouldn't have explained that anyway, it was stupid.

Corey's middle name is Arthur, and yes, he's the oldest in his immediate family. He and Sirius are both in third year. And if anyone can guess who Kert's mother is, I'll give you a cyber-cookie. The two Slytherins are Vail Mardon Nott and Abimala Kelda Zambini.

I decided a while back that Rena has a sweet tooth, and her favorite candies are sugar quills and pocky!

A personal seal seams like a nice wedding present to me…


End file.
